06. Palestine a Hot Climate

Palestine a Hot Climate The blessing which the patriarch Jacob pronounced upon Judah contains this remarkable prediction, Genesis 49:11 : “Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.” Thus the future territory of Judah’s descendants was to be so prolific of strong vines that domestic animals could everywhere be hitched to them. The vines were to be so fruitful that the garments of the inhabitants could be washed in their juices. God’s promise to the Hebrews, Deuteronomy 8:7-8, was, “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey.” We also read that Rabshakeh said to the Jews, 2 Kings 18:32, “I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey.” These texts settle the fact that Palestine abounded in sweet fruits—that the Hebrews cultivated the grape and made wine.

Dr. Jahn, Professor Oriental languages in the University of Vienna, in his Biblical Archaeology, first published in this country from the Latin abridgment of 1814, says: “The Hebrews were diligent in the cultivation of vineyards, and the soil of Palestine yielded in great quantities the best of wine. The mountains of Engedi in particular, the valley of the salt-pits, and the valleys of Eshcol and Sorek were celebrated for their grapes.” “In Palestine, even at the present day, the clusters of the vine grow to the weight of twelve pounds; they have large grapes, and cannot be carried far by one man without being injured. (Numbers 13:24-25.) The grapes are mostly red or black; whence originated the phrase “blood of the grapes.” (Genesis 29:11; Deuteronomy 32:14; Isaiah 27:2.) In Numbers 13:23, we read of “one cluster of grapes from Eshcol” borne by two men upon a staff. “Clusters weighing from twenty to forty pounds are still seen in various parts of Syria.” “Nau affirms, p. 458, that he saw in the neighborhood of Hebron grapes as large as one’s thumb.” “Dandini, although an Italian, was astonished at the large size to which grapes attained in Lebanon, being, he says (p. 79), as large as prunes.” “Mariti (iii. 134) affirms that in different parts of Syria he had seen grapes of such extraordinary size that a bunch of them would be a sufficient burden for one man.” “Neitchutz states he could say with truth that in the mountains of Israel he saw and had eaten from bunches of grapes that were half an ell long, and the grapes two joints of a finger in length.” “A bunch of Syrian grapes produced at Welbeck, England, sent from the duke of Portland to the Marquis of Rockingham weighed nineteen pounds, its diameter nineteen inches and a half, its circumference four feet and a half, its length nearly twenty-three inches. It was borne to the Marquis on a staff by two laborers”—Bible Commentary, p. 46, note.

Thomas Hartwell Horne, in his Introduction to the Study of the Bible, vol. 3, p. 28, says of Palestine, “The summers are dry and extremely hot.” He quotes Dr. E.D. Clarke that his thermometer, sheltered from the sun, “remained at 100° Fahrenheit.” He states “that from the beginning of June to the beginning of August, the heat of the weather increases, and the nights are so warm that the inhabitants sleep on their house-tops in the open air; that the hot season is from the beginning of August, to the beginning of October; and that during the chief part of this season the heat is intense, though less so at Jerusalem than in the plain of Jericho: there is no cold, not even in the night, so that travellers pass whole nights in the open air without inconvenience. These statements are fully confirmed by Rev. J.W. Nevin”—Bible Antiquities, and other authorities. In the summer of 1867, Captain Wilson, of the English exploring expedition in Palestine, states “that the thermometer after sunset stood at 110° Fahrenheit in July at Ain, the ancient Engedi.” Captain Warren, of the same expedition, “was compelled by the ill-health of his party during the summer heat at Jerusalem to retreat to the Lebanon range.”—Advance, February 3, 1870.

Chemical science prohibits the vinous fermentation if the heat exceeds 75°, and ensures the acetous if above 75°. Also, that very sweet juices, having an excess of sugar, are unfavorable to vinous fermentation, but are favorable to the acetous. The valleys of Eshcol and Sorek were famous for their luscious grapes; but the temperature there in the vintage months was 100°.